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CD recorded in February & March 2020:

CD-print Suizen.jpg

playlist (listen on YouTube):

1. Daiwagaku - 大和楽  (1.8)*

2. Murasaki Reibo - 紫鈴慕  (1.8) 

3. Choshi - 調子 (2.4)

4. Banshiki - 盤渉 (2.6) 

5. Kokū - 虚空 (2.8) 

6. Mukaiji - 霧海箎 (1.8) 

7. Tamuke - 手向 (2.6) 

8. Kyorei - 虚鈴 (3.1) 

*Numbers between brackets indicate the size of the shakuhachi used.

Total time: 67 min.

To purchase a copy of the CD, please contact me here

03:59

12:23

03:55

08:30

14:52

11:09

06:47

12:04

Suizen (吹禅) means “blowing meditation”. Until the 19th Century the shakuhachi functioned as a religious tool to the Japanese Zen Buddhist Komusō (monks of nothingness) of the Fuke sect. The pieces of the Honkyoku (本曲, "original pieces" played by those monks) in the recording are played in the version of Jin Nyodo (1892-1965). The first piece on the CD, Daiwagaku [track 1], “The Great Harmony of Music”, was composed by Jin Nyodo in 1941. It represents the cycle of the seasons, of human life, and of the day.

 

Murasaki Reibo [track 2] means “Murasaki Yearning for the Bell”. Murasaki (purple) refers to Murasakino (the Purple Field area in Kyoto). Reibo can also mean a spiritual quest; it is a common title in shakuhachi Honkyoku.

 

Choshi [track 3], “Unity of Heaven and Earth”, is often used as a warming-up piece, or a piece to get a feeling of the instrument, because of its brevity. Structurally it is related to Daiwagaku.

 

Banshiki [track 4], “pass over”, was traditionally used in a ceremony known as Kuyo no Kyoku (Memorial for the Dead). The opening section is a sad sigh, the middle section is an emotional cry in the higher register of the shakuhachi, and the final section expresses quiet resignation. 

 

Kokū [track 5], “Empty Sky”, Mukaiji [track 6], “Flute on a Misty Sea”, and Kyorei [track 8], “The bell of nothingness” are considered the “three classics” (Koten-Sankyoku), the three oldest pieces in the shakuhachi repertoire.

 

Tamuke [track 7], “Hands folded together”, is a requiem piece for the departed souls of the loved ones. It is a prayer for safe passage through life and death.

 

The CD is not a studio recording. Ambient noise (such as the sound of rain, wind, or a passing truck) was not suppressed, in accordance with the Wabi-sabi (侘寂) idea of simplicity and imperfection.

CD recorded in March & April 2020:

CD_hoes_Kinko_Ryū.jpg

Kinko Ryū Honkyoku Volume 1

 

1. Hi-fu-mi Hachigaeshi no Shirabe           11:06

2. Taki-otoshi no kyoku                                16:36

3. Akita Sugagaki                                           15:10

4. Koro Sugagaki                                            23:33

listen on YouTube

Honkyoku (本曲, "original pieces") are the pieces of shakuhachi music played by mendicant Japanese Zen monks of the Fuke sect called Komusō. Komusō played honkyoku for enlightenment and alms as early as the 13th century. Honkyoku is part of the practice of suizen (吹禅, "blowing meditation"). There are many schools (ryū 流) of honkyoku, each with their own style. The pieces on the present CD belong to the Kinko Ryū (琴古流), named after Kinko Kurosawa, a komusō monk who lived in the 18th Century and who collected 36 honkyoku pieces all over Japan. Three additional pieces were later added to the Kinko Ryū repertoire.

All pieces are performed on a 1.8 Chikuyu - Tajima Tadashi shakuhachi.

CD recorded June to August 2020:

hoes Kinko Ryu 2.png

Kinko Ryū Honkyoku Volume 2

 

5. Kyūshū Reibo                                            21:45

6. Shizu no Kyoku                                         16:58

7. Kyō Reibo                                                  25:03

                                         

listen on YouTube

CD recorded October 2020 to March 2021:

hoes Kinko Ryū Vol.3.jpg

Kinko Ryū Honkyoku Volume 3

 

8. Mukaiji Reibo                                           23:43

9. Kokū Reibo                                               29:07

10. Ikkan Ryū Kokū Kaete                           08:42

11. Banshiki chō                                           05:37

listen on YouTube

CD recorded June and July 2021:

hoes Kinko Ryū vol. 4.jpg

Kinko Ryū Honkyoku Volume 4

 

12. Shin Kyorei                                             16:46

13. Kinsan Kyorei                                         27:40

14. Yoshiya Reibo                                         25:32

listen on YouTube

CD recorded March 2020 and July 2021:

hies Kinko Ryū vol. 5.jpg

Kinko Ryū Honkyoku Volume 5

 

15. Yūgure no Kyoku                                    17:28

16. Sakae Jishi                                                55:50

listen on YouTube

upcoming CD:

hoes suizen 2 (illustraie).jpg

listen to  some samples:

Kumoi Jishi (2.2)
Darani (2.4)
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